Talking in Your Sleep
by Kisses on the Bottom
Summary: Her secret would have been kept if she hadn't had the problem of talking in her sleep.


_Just my strange take on a way Mal could have found out about Sandra cheating on him—based off of the song "Talking in Your Sleep" by The Romantics. _

* * *

Television was Mal's only company at the time, for Sandra was too busy chatting on the phone with her clients to do much around the house. She spent hours at a time with each one, which Mal figured was putting her on edge. Still, it was New Year's Eve, and even though Mal had set two glasses of champagne on the coffee table for the two of them, she still didn't budge from her calling spot in the dining room.

Sandra was speaking in a hushed tone of voice with this client, so Mal figured that an important business matter was going on. He sighed and changed the channel to watch fireworks, proceeding to pick up his phone to see that he had an unread text from Ken.

"Hey, buddy! We're all at Anna's place. There are enough drinks to go around for a hundred more people. Come on over, and bring Sandra!"

The offer was tempting. Mal knew that his wife had to keep working, even though the hour was late and most were enjoying this New Year's Eve instead of collaborating with clients. He had a hard time resisting the urge to grab his coat and drive straight to Officer Willis's home, but he glanced at Sandra and forced himself to decline the offer.

_She'll finish soon; _Mal told himself and fixated his thoughts on the gorgeous fireworks illuminating his television screen. For a while, he listened to numerous pop bands perform in New York until the big apple began to drop, signifying that midnight was almost here. Mal looked over to see that Sandra was still on the phone.

She cupped her Blackberry in one hand and nervously chewed her bottom lip as she did so, pressing her phone so tightly against her ear that Mal was afraid she'd hurt herself. Oftentimes, she ran her other hand through her sandy curls and sighed. Her words were too quiet for him to hear, but whatever she was saying appeared to be straightforward, direct, and hushed.

Mal didn't look away from her until the apple reached the ground, and people in Times Square threw confetti and kissed their significant others. He sighed, turned off the television, and made his way to his wife, who had just hung up the phone. She looked at him in the eye and before she could say anything, he gently pressed his lips to hers.

"Hey," Mal grinned. "You're finally off the phone."

Sandra sighed and nervously laughed. "Yeah," she placed her phone on the table and nodded, "this…client was really demanding."

Mal playfully bit her ear. "Well, that's alright. You missed the apple drop, but as long as you're off the phone—"

"Actually, Mal," Sandra cut in, "I think I'm going to sleep now. Bradley really brought out the worst in me…"

"Bradley?" Mal wondered aloud.

Sandra nervously paused. "Oh, um…he's my client. He ordered a lot of scarves and coats for his wife. I'm going to have to leave early tomorrow morning to get to the shop and straighten things out for him."

Mal sighed. "Well, okay," he shrugged and kissed her once more. "I'm going to call Cyn and wish her a happy New Year's before hitting the sack with you."

Sandra got up. "All right—tell her I said hi," she smiled and pecked Mal's cheek. "Goodnight."

He grinned and dialed his sister, taking time to catch up and reminisce about previous holiday parties. Pretty soon, Mal found that it was nearly two in the morning, so he wished Cynthia farewell and began to get ready for bed.

Careful not to wake Sandra, Mal got into his pajamas, brushed his teeth, and slipped underneath the covers with her. She was asleep, but Mal leaned over to place a kiss on her cheek, only stopping when he saw her lips moving and heard faint murmuring.

"Bradley…" she sighed and rolled over in bed, tightly gripping her pillow with her left hand.

Mal was a bit surprised by this, but he shrugged and figured that this client must have really chewed her head off with an intense order. He sighed and stretched out in the king-sized bed, closing his eyes.

"Didn't mean to," Sandra moaned and rolled over again.

Mal sat back up and frowned. Obviously this Bradley had done something that upset Sandra, and…

"Love you," she whispered and let out a soft moan afterwards.

Mal's heart nearly stopped, and he looked around and saw that she was still asleep.

"Saturday," Sandra uttered between yawns and began to toss and turn.

Mal got up and forced himself to not think the unthinkable. Bradley, like she had said before, was just a _client. _He didn't do anything to her, and she didn't do anything to him—except take his order.

"…_cheater_,"Sandra spat as she moaned once more, and then fell into a deep sleep.

It was then that Mal felt his inner walls come crumbling down. A million questions raced through his head, but most were centered on the topic—was I not good enough? Did she need more? Why? What could I have done to prevent this?

_Everything, _Mal thought. _The answer is everything._

He got up and grabbed Sandra's Blackberry from the nightstand, unlocking it and scrolling to the contact "Bradley Turner." His contact picture was of a dashing, blonde man with crystal blue eyes and a radiant smile.

Mal threw the phone at a nearby wall, yanked a coat from the laundry basket (a pile of dirty clothes, but he didn't know at the time), and stormed outside, finding comfort at the Drunk Tank. He used a few crushed up dollar bills from the bottom of his jacket's pocket to rent a room at the Sweetwater Inn, a beat-up motel that offered severely cheap rates.

The room was disgusting and reeked of mold and cigarette smoke, but somehow, Mal found it more comforting than his clean bed with Sandra.

* * *

_It's a bit of a drabble—sorry about that. Reviews are greatly appreciated._

_Also, if any of you have a tumblr and enjoy vintage or retro things, please check my blog out. My url is "pauling-in-love" (a cheesy pun to express my fondness towards young Paul McCartney). I will follow back._

_I haven't posted anything in awhile, but I'm glad to be back. Sadly, I lost my chapter of "You're My Paradise" and need to rewrite it (I finished the chapter on my iPod touch but reset it when I got a new iPhone and the document was lost). I will try to rewrite it as quickly as I can.  
_

_Thank you for being such great readers. x  
_


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